Steam-engine



. 4 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

W. S, HALSEY;

STEAM ENGINE.

Patented Mar. 22, 1887.

'4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

Patented Mm; 22, 1887.

1 m E v WW v \\Q W. SJHALSEY.

STEAM ENGINE.

(No Model.)

w 4 Sheets-Sheet 3.

(No Model.)

W. S. HALSEY. STEAM ENGINE.

Patented Mar. 22. 1887.

4 Sheets Sheet 4.

(No Model.)

W. s. HALSEY.

STEAM ENGINE.

Patented Mar; 22, 1887.

NV PETERS, Phaluhlhcgraphnr. wasmu mn. 0.4:.

. UNITED STATES PATENT anion.

\VILLIAM S. HALSEY, OF BRIDGEFORT, CONNECTICUT.

STEAM-ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No, 359,926, dated March22, 1887.

Application filed September 24, 1886. Serial No, 214,418.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM S. HALSEY, a citizen of the UnitedStates,'residing at Bridgeport, in the county of 'Fairfield and State ofConnecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inSteam-Engines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

My invention relates to the class of engines known as liberatingcut-off, and has for its object to so simplify and improve theconstruction and arrangement of the parts which control the taking andexhausting of steam that I am enabled, first, to use two valves only,thus dispensing with two valves heretofore deemed indispensable in thisclass of engines-that is to say, instead of taking steam by two valvesand exhausting by two independent valves, I use but two valves, each ofwhich both takes and exhausts steam; and, secondly, of increasing therevolutions of the engine, so that I am enabled to develop anypredetermined power in a smaller-sized engine than has heretofore beencapable of developing such predetermined power. Vith these ends in viewI have devised the novel construction of which the followingdescription, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is aspecification, numbers being used to indicate the several parts.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of an engine, illustrating my invention asapplied in connection with a slidevalve, one of the valvechests being invertical section; Fig. 2, a plan view of the cylinder and a portion ofthe bed-plate, one of the valve-chests being in horizontal section; Fig.3, a side elevation on an enlarged scale, illustrating my invention asapplied in connection with an oscillating valve, the valvegcar beingidentical in both constructions; Fig. 4, an enlarged detail view of theliberating mechanism; Fig. 5, a side view correspond ing with Fig. 4;Fig. 6, a detail view of the counterweight and parts operating inconnection therewith; Fig. 7, a vertical longitudinal section of thecylinder, illustrating the manner in which the valves take and exhauststeam, the position of the leftor inner valve (No model).

haust position; and Fig. 8 is a diagram illus- 5 trating the extremes ofoscillation of the crescent arm and the parts operating in connectiontherewith.

1 is the hed-plate of the engine; 2, the cylinder; 3, valve-chests; 4,the crank-disk; 5, the connecting-rod; 6, the crosshead block whichslides in guide-bars 7; 8, the governor; 9, the governor-lever; 10, theeccentric; 11, the eccentric-rod, and 12 a belt extending from a pulleyon the crank-shaft to a pulley, 13, on a short shaft, through whichrotation is imparted to the governor-shaft. All of these parts may he ofthe usual or any preferred construct-ion, as the special constructionthereof in no way affects the operation of my invention.

As slated above, my invention is equally adapted to sliding oroscillating valves. In Figs. 1 and 2 I have illustrated its applicationto an ordinary slide-valve, and in Figs. 3 and 4 to an ordinaryoscillating valve. As the special construction of these valves forms noportion of my present invention, it is not deemed necessary to describethem in detail.

14 is the valve-operating shafnwhich passes through the bonnet or cover15 of the valve, and 16 is an arm, ordinarily of crescent form, andpreferably journaled upon the valve-operating shaft. The crescent armslGare curved upwardly and toward each other, as is clearly shown, andtheir upper ends are connected by a link, 17. A similar link, 18,extends backward from the inner valve, and is pivoted to the lower endof cccentricrod arm 19, the cocentricrod being pivoted to said arm, asclearly shown in Figs. 1 and 3. As the mechanisms of the two valves areidentical in construction, the singular number will be used in thedescription.

20 is a crab-claw pivoted to the crescent 9 arm. The arm of thecrab-claw curves downward, and is engaged bya lug or teat, 21, upon asleeve, 22, which turns freely on the valveoperating shaft, as will bemore fully explained.

23 is a liberating latch provided with a shoulder, 24. Thislatch is madeintegral. with the crab-claw, or maybe attached thereto, if preferred.

24 is a rod pivoted to the crab-claw under the liberating-latch. Thisrod is preferably pivoted in a recess in the crab-claw, as clearly shownin Fig. 4..

25 is a sliding block guided by rod 24, said block being pivoted to theupper arm of a bell-crank lever, 26; which is rigidly secured to thevalve operating shaft.

27 is an arm projecting downward from sleeve 22 on the valve-operatingshaft.

28 is a link which connects arm 27 with the lower arm of a bell-cranklever, 29, pivoted to the bed-plate, a link, 30, extending from theupper arm of this lever to governor-lever 9, which is pivoted to an arm,31, projecting from the governor-standard. A link, 32, connects arm 27on the operating-shaft of the inner valve to a similar arm upon theoperatingshaft of the outer valve. The arm upon the outer valve,however, projects upward, instead of downward, as is of course necessaryin order to effect a perfect timing of the mechamsm.

33 is a rod pivoted to the lower arm of hellcrank lever 26,which carriesacounter'weight, 34, adapted to move within a box or casing, 35, uponthe bed-plate. Rod 33 passes loosely through the weight, the latterbeing held on the rod by a collar, 36. The weight is provided with acentral recess, 37, to receive a spring, 38, one end of the spring beingadapted to bear on the bottom of the recess and the other against acollar, 39, on the rod.

It will be apparent that as the lower arm of bellvcrank lever 26 swingsdownward the rod must becarried downward against the power.

of the spring,which acts at the completion .of

the downward movement to return the lever 34 is raised by the rod, andas soon as the movement is completed acts to return the parts to theintermediate position again; Each movement of the eccentric-rod towardthe rightiruparts a similar movement to the valvelinks, which arepivoted to the respective ores These arms turn cent arms of the twovalves. freely on the valve operating shafts, and of course carry thecrab-claws with them. the present instance (see Figs. 4, 7, and S)theparts are so arranged that the movement of the valve-links toward theright causes the right or outer valve to exhaust steam and the left orinner valve to take steam, and vice versa. As shown in Fig. 3 the partsare at the intermediate positionthat is, at the instant neither valve istaking nor exhausting steam, the piston being at the end of its stroketoward the left. In order to cause the left or inner valve (whoseoperation I will 3 describe more fully).to exhaust,it is necessary thatthe crescent arm shall be moved toward 1 the right from the position inwhich it. is shownin Fig. 4. This movement is accomplished against thepower of spring 38 until the eccentric is at that extreme of its throw,

at which instant the return movement commences, being assisted by i thepower of the spring until the parts are at the intermediate positionshown in Fig. 3. Anopening is pro vided: in the bed to receive rod 33when the crescent arm moves towardthe right.

In order to cause the left valve to take steam,

it is necessary that the crescent arm should move toward theleft. Thismovement, which is also accomplished by the eccentric, is against thepower of the weight, which is necessarily raised by said movement untilthe eccentric:

As it is desirable, however, that the valve should not take steam duringthe entire move ment of the crescent arm toward thelleft, I

have provided a lug or teat, 21, upon a loose sleeve, 22, on thevalve-operating shaft,which, as the crah-claw moves toward the left, en-

gages the arm and raises it, carrying the latcln with it, so that thesliding block is released. The instant that the block is releasedcounterweight 34 will draw bell-crank lever 26 and thevalve-operating-shaft toward the right, thus instantly cutting off thepassage of steam into the valve.

In Fig. 4. I have illustrated the position of the parts at the instantthat the eccentric is at. the extreme of its movement toward the left,thelug or teat having already operated to re lease the sliding blockfrom the latch and the valve being closedthat is, at the intermediateposition referred to.

in Fig. 4. the crab-claw is. of course carried with it, the curvature,of the arm of the crabclaw being such that it will ride down on theopposite side of the lug or teat, and will per-1 mit the latch to engagethe sliding block again,

all of which is clearly illustrated in diagram, Fig. 8. A spring, 40, isprovided at the base of the latch, to prevent the block from comingforcibly in contact withthe latch, and also to hold it in engagementwith the shoulder, the block being held in engagement with the latchduring the exhaust-that is, during the movement of the bell-crank levertoward the right, and until it is again released bythe lug or teat 1during the movement. toward the left, these movements being continuouslyrepeated. It will of course be apparent from what has al ready been saidthat the instant at which the As the crescent arm moves toward the rightfrom the position shown i IQO.

cut-off takes place depends entirely upon the position of the teat onsleeve 22.

In order to make the cut-off automatic, I have connected the respectivearms 27, which project from sleeves 22 of each valve, by a link, andhave furthermore connected said arms with the governor, as has alreadybeen described. Suppose, now, that the revolutions of the engineareincreasing beyond the desired speed. The effect will be to raise theinner end of governonlever 9, which, acting through the links andbell-crank lever 29, will move arm 27 toward the left, which will carrysleeve 22 on the valve-operating shaft, upon which the lug or teatisformed, toward the right, thus reducing the speed of the engine bycausing the steam to be cut off earlier in each stroke. Suppose, on theother hand, that the revolutions of the engine are decreasing from thedesired speed. This will have the contrary effect. The inner end of thegovernorlever will drop, which, acting through the intermediateconnections, will cause the sleeve, teat, and valveoperating shaft to bemoved toward the left,

so that the valve-operating shaft will have a greater oscillation beforethe lug or teat will come in contact with the arm of the crab-claw, andcause the latch to release the block and the steam to be cut off. Theengine illustrated in the drawings commences to take steam in the leftvalve, for example, the instant the crescent arm and valve-operatingshaft move toward the left from the intermediate position in which theparts are shown in Fig. 3, the piston being at this instant at theextreme left of its stroke. The piston now begins to move toward theright, and the movement of the crescent arm, bell-crank lever 26, andthe valve-operating shaft toward the left continues until the arm of thecrab-claw engages the teat on sleeve 22. This acts to raise thecrabclaw, which releases the block from the latch and allows thecounter-weight to return the parts to the intermediate position, thuscutting off the steam instantly. The position of the valve and piston atthis instant is clearly shown in Fig. 7, and the position of the valvemechanism in Fig. 4. The piston continues to move toward the right fromthe position shown in Fig. 7. Meanwhile the crescent arm continues tomove toward the left until it reaches the extreme of its movement inthat direction, as indicated in dotted lines in diagram, Fig. 3. Thecrescent arm now moves toward the right again, and at the intermediateposition (see Figs. 3 and 8) the arm of the crab-claw will have passedover the teat, so that the latch will have dropped down and engaged theblock again. At this instant the piston will have completed its stroketoward the right and will begin to move toward the left. The movement ofthe crescent arm toward the right continues until it reaches the extremeof its movement in that direction, as indicated by dotted lines indiagram, Fig. 8. It then moves toward theleft again. W'hile the crescentarm has been moving from the intermediate position to the extremeposition toward the right and back to the intermediate position againthe piston will have been moving toward the left, the block will havebeen carried by the latch, and the valve will have been exhausting. Theposition of either of the valves in exhausting is shown at the right inFig. 7. The piston now begins to move toward the right again, thecrescent arm moves toward the left, and the valve takes steam again, thetaking of steam continuing until the steam is cut of? by the engagementof the arm of the crab-claw with the teat, as already described.

It will of course be understood that the details of construction may bevaried within reasonable limits without departing from the spirit of myinvention. I do not wish to be understood as claiming, broadly, the use,in connection with an engine, of valvegear which permits the release ofthe valve before the end of the stroke in one direction and holds itrigidly to the end of the stroke in the opposite direction; but,

Having thus described my invention, I

-claim 1. The valve-operating shaft,lever 26,block 25, and arm 16,havinga crab-claw with latch 23 pivoted thereto, in combination withteat 21, rod 33, having collars, as shown, counterweight 34, and spring35, whereby the parts are held in operative position during the exhaust.

'2. In an engine, the combinatiom'with a valve,'its operating-shaft andoperating-lever, and a block pivoted to said lever, of an oscillatingcrescent arm carrying a crab-claw,pivoted rod 24. and a latch, teat 2],spring 38, and counter-weight 34,arranged as described, and for thepurpose set forth.

3. The valve-operating shaft, arm 1G,journaled thereon, and crab claw2(),provided with latch 23, which is pivoted to said arm, in combinationwith lever 26, secured to the valve operating shaft, and block 25,pivoted to said lever, which is engaged by the latch to cause the valveto take and exhaust steam.

4. The combination, with the valve-operat ing shaft, arm 16, journalcdon said shaft, crabclaw 20, having latch 23 pivoted to said arm, and arod, 24:, pivoted in said crab-claw, of a bell-crank lever, 26, securedto the valve-operating shaft, a sliding block, 25, pivoted to saidlever, which slides on said rod and is engaged by the latch, and means,substantially as described, whereby said lever is returned to anintermediate position from either ex treme of its throw.

5. The valveoperating shaft having a lever, 26, secured thereto, apivoted block carried by said lever, and sleeve 22, having teat 21, incombination with an arm, 16, journaled on said shaft, 21. crab-clawpivoted to said arm, which is adapted to engage the teat,and is providedwith a pivoted rod, 24", which carries IIO the block, and a latch, 23,adapted to engage said block, substantially as described.

6. The valve operating shaft, bellcrank lever 26, block 25, and sleeve22, havingteat 21, in combination witharm 16, crab-claw 20, havinglat-3h 23, rod 33, having collars 36 and 39, and weight 34, and spring38, operating as described, whereby the valve-operating shaft isreturned to its intermediate position as soon as the block is released,and the parts are held in operative position during the exhaust.

7. The valve-operating shaft, lever 26, and block 25, in combinationwith arm 16, the crab-claw having latch 23, rod 241-, and spring 40,substantially as described.

8. The valve operating shaft, bell crank lever 26,having block 25,andthe crescent arm, and crab-claw having latch 23, in combination.- Withrod 33, pivoted to lever 26, weight 34,

having a central opening to receive spring 38, 20

- and casing 85, surrounding" theweightfl In testimony whereof I aflixmy signature in presence of two witnesses.

WlLL-IAM S. HALSEY.

\Vitnesses:

A. M. XVOOSTER, C. E. RUGGLES.

